Photo: ACN.

Havana, Jan 11 (RHC) The Cuban national handball team, which will make its debut on January 16 at the World Handball Championship, lost 36-35 to Club RK Porek of the Croatian Premier League in a preparatory match held in the Balkan city of Umag.

According to statements by technical director Jover Hernandez, the Cuban team showed little intensity and a discreet success in both areas at the beginning of the second match on the road to the World Cup organized by Norway, Denmark, and Croatia.

"The boys came out with a lack of rhythm, little effectiveness in front of goal and vulnerability under the posts, however, as the minutes went by, we improved and reduced the final difference in the scoreboard to one goal," said the strategist. 

Hernandez values that the discreet performance is a natural scenario of the preparation, in which they were forced to suspend a game this Thursday against Kuwait due to illness of several members of the Arab team. 

The eighth Cuban team in the history of the World Cup will continue training until January 13 in the city located a little more than 200 kilometers from Zagreb, where the Group G matches will be played.

The Cubans, led on the court by Frank Cordiés, player of the first division in Spain with Huesca, have agreed for Monday 13 a last duel before the debut against Slovenia in the world championship, precisely against a club of that Central European country. 

From January 14 to February 2, 2025, the best 32 teams in the world will face each other in the tournament in which the representation of the largest of the Antilles was drawn in Group G with the teams of Slovenia, Iceland, and Cape Verde.

"Cuba's goal remains the same as when we arrived in Croatia, to beat the team of Cape Verde on the 20th, in the last match of the group to access the next phase of the championship," Jover Hernandez ratified. 

Before that, in the second day, they will face Iceland, participants for the fourteenth consecutive time to the most important men's tournament of this sport.

Cuba's last participation in a world event was in Croatia 2009; the Cubans achieved their best result in the Egypt 1999 edition with an 8th place after losing in the quarterfinals against Serbia, the eventual champion. (Taken from ACN)